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You Don't Know Jack about VoIP

Posted by michael on from the single-purpose-phone-lines-so-old-skool dept.

gManZboy writes "Phil Sherburne and Cary Fitzgerald, two senior technologists over at Cisco, have written an in-depth overview of VoIP for developers and the like (not for everyone who's ever used a phone). Like Queue's earlier You Don't Know Jack about Disks, this article covers the history, the basic technologies, how they work, and where they're headed. If you found the blog post yesterday lacking, check this one out."

3 of 113 comments (clear)

  1. Re:VoIP = fad by bg_27 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    No way, my company pays over $10,000/ month in long distance for our 1-800 nubmers and all the long distance we use. The bandwidth you could get for that price is pretty good.

  2. Re:Test your connection... by Vancorps · · Score: 3, Interesting
    This is really what's slowing down adoption of VOIP in the home. Here at the office we currently use Cisco VOIP but we're switching to Televantage because Cisco's sucks so bad. Amazing how many features weren't well thought out. I mean, it takes 5 steps to transfer a call to voicemail.

    At any rate, I wouldn't think it would be a problem for VOIP providers to integrate with 911. They have the address of all their customers, seems like it would be trivial to have a 911 operator send out the request and an automated response would reply with the address. That would solve the problem of not being able to find the person trying to call.

    As for a power outage, we had one recently and our cisco poe switches kept all the phones up so most of the building had no idea the servers were no longer receiving power.
  3. Re:Test your connection... by Nos. · · Score: 3, Interesting

    At any rate, I wouldn't think it would be a problem for VOIP providers to integrate with 911. They have the address of all their customers, seems like it would be trivial to have a 911 operator send out the request and an automated response would reply with the address.
    I've done some work for a VOIP service provider. The way their system works, they don't know your current location. Sure, they know your home address, but with their setup, there's nothing to say I didn't take the box to my friends place, plug in to his high speed and make the call. This is why I like the service I worked on. The service comes with a little box (about the size of those home routers) that you plug your high speed into and a regular phone, and away you go. As long as you have high speed and clear access to the ports needed, the service works. Sure, your bill gets mailed to your home address, but that doesn't mean that's where your making the calls from.
    As for a power outage, we had one recently and our cisco poe switches kept all the phones up
    That may work in an office environment when the phones are hooked up to the switch, but what about at home, when your VOIP is over cable or phone line? No power, no dial tone.